CR84FN64

The graphic was made using beautiful photos courtesy of magnoliarouge.com. 

Hi Friends!  

The colors for this challenge are a perfect combination for the baby shower project I needed to make.  Check out the challenge details HERE.  

Little Andrew's gift card will perfectly fit inside this 4" X 4" card.  I tried and tried again to jazz it up with a stamped background then an embossed background but came back to the most clean and simple way to execute it.  For some reason, CAS always wins out when I make cards for babies.

I recently started using X-Press It Blending Card Paper, Bright White for all Copic coloring.  Since it was recommended on Markerpop.com, I thought it would be a good product and I am very pleased with the ultra-smooth texture and the way it holds color so beautifully.  The ink does bleed through on the back, so you would not choose it for a card base, but it can't be beat for coloring.

All other products are Papertrey Ink unless noted:  

Card Stock:  Harvest Gold, Spring Rain, New Leaf

Stamp Sets:  Hanging Out (sentiment), Tremendous Treats: Birthday (balloons image)

Die:  Pinking Shears Border Die

Misc:  Yellow button, Blue Baker's Twine

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Various Copic Markers

I'm so glad you decided to take a look, let me know what you think!  I love hearing your comments.

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

I'm having a Blast!

Hello Friends!

Some of you have asked what I've been up to since I wrote Time For a Change.  The short version is that I have been making tags and packaging for Bliss Cupcake Boutique.  This small start up business is right in my neighborhood and the owner and I have a kindred spirit for all things home/hand made.  Her divine cupcakes and my embellished packaging are a match that was waiting to happen.  I have added several photos so you can get the idea.  I think you will recognize that most of the supplies I've used are from Papertrey Ink.  I just can't get away from my first paper crafting love!

for a friend's birthday 

fully assembled package complete with a fresh pumpkin cupcake!

The little boxes fit under the clear cupcake holder inside the cellophane bag.

This is the "every day" packaging that matches the decor of the shop.

She even has a few of my cards!

So that's what I've been doing lately.  I appreciate your interest and look forward to staying in touch!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

(All supplies are Papertrey Ink except Ghostly Trio dies from Memory Box and assorted glitters from Martha Stewart)

September 2012 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

{PHOTO CREDITS: tied-up boxes, diaper pin wraps, felt & button bags, wine wrap, fabric ribbon, drawstring pouch}

I grew up with parents who were children themselves at the time of the Great Depression.  (following the the stock market crash of 1929).  In our household, recycling was normal life. At Christmas time, I got to wrap the packages and my favorite job was to cut up last year's Christmas cards to make tags for this year's gifts. (I think this was my first experience with paper crafting).  I LOVED the challenge of making something pretty from something that otherwise would be  discarded.  I was always a little sad when the packages I had painstakingly made beautiful were ripped up and thrown away.

So today's project is a Re-Gift Bag!  I don't means to pass along what's inside, but to pass along the bag itself.   

I started by cutting two 5" squares,  and three 1 1/2" X 5" strips of black felt.  I stitched all of this together using white thread, making 1/4" seams on the outside of the bags.  The really fun part was when I started to die cut the flowers, I realized that I had an assortments of felt flowers stashed away from a previous project.  While I added a few leaves, the flowers were patiently waiting to be assembled, glued, and let their happy faces shine on this project!

(the supplies for this project are an assortment of felts from Papertrey Ink.  Black, Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold, Hawaiian Shores, and Simply Chartreuse.)

So there you have it.  Thanks for taking a look at my project today AND thanks for sharing a sweet memory with me.  I really felt like a little kid again!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

CR84FN63-Week 2 and DT call/ CFC71

Hello Friends, happy Sunday afternoon!

I'm here with a quick post to share a card I made for these challenge:

The graphic was made using beautiful photos courtesy of magnoliarouge.com.

CFC71 Create a Clean And Simple project inspired by autumn

I love these colors and especially the cute little dress in the center picture.  I was immediately inspired to get out "A Little Argyle", and ink it up in Blueberry Sky and Dark Chocolate.  I couldn't resist adding a little touch of Autumn since it's only 70 degrees here today AND there is a touch of color showing in the top of the Red Maple in our back yard!  

So here it is:

I enjoyed using the rock and roll technique on the "Leaf Prints" in the background.  Since the solid stamp was inked with VersaMark, I started with the veined stamp inked with  Classic Kraft, then applied the solid stamp after I rolled the edges with the same Classic Kraft ink.  It was impossible to see the solid stamp to properly line everything up doing it the other, more traditional way.  The Nutty Acorn die, by Memory Box was used on Fine Linen card stock, colored with more Classic Kraft and Dark Chocolate inks using a sponge dauber.  The sentiment, from "Autumn Hills", was also stamped with Dark Chocolate.  the Blueberry Sky ribbon was the last touch applied to this Fine Linen card base.

There it is.  All products are from Papertrey Ink except the Memory Box die, and VersaMark Ink. I look forward to hearing your comments!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Time for a Change

Hello Followers and Fellow Bloggers!

August was full of travel.  First, to Nashville to see old friends as well as family; then to San Francisco for a family wedding which ended with a trip to Sonoma Valley for my Sweetheart and me.  We love wine country and all the goodness that comes from that glorious region. I even got to check off a "bucket list" item-we flew over the vineyards in a hot air balloon!

The process of lifting the balloon is VERY impressive

This thing is 8 stories tall

The adventure begins!

Unbelievable beauty at this height

We could actually see the grapes on the vines flying this low

The celebratory post-flight champagne brunch 

We were allowed to pick and taste these.

What a beautiful experience.  We ate great food, tasted great wines, took MANY pictures, and will always cherish the memory of this time together.

Now that you know what has kept me from blogging for the last 30 or so days, I'll tell you something else going on in my life.  I'm heading in a new direction with paper-crafting.  As I approach my third anniversary in this delightful hobby, I recognize a narrowing of focus (for now).

My favorite projects are tags and embellishments for packaging which most frequently are for celebrations of new births as well as birthdays and the Christmas season.  I want to spend more time creating specific projects that will sell in a local shop (or two). We shall see if this leads to an Etsy shop...  All of this to say, I find that trying to keep up with challenges actually distracts me from what I believe to be my real purpose.

At the same time, I love participating with all of you in the creative process.  You inspire me to think differently and try things that otherwise would be overlooked.  While I'm not saying goodbye, I am saying I won't be making as many cards and posts will not be related to challenges as often.  I know I will still be "stalking" your blogs and hope you will still visit me.  I would be broken hearted to lose contact with all of you on-line-friends.  Please say hello whenever you can!

Thanks for stopping by,
Suzanne

MIM #77 Watercolor with Ink Pads-Card #2

Surprise!  I'm back with the second card for this week's challenge.  In case you did not see the first one, here's what's going on:

Take a little time before the August Release starts and learn a watercolor technique from Dawn McVey.  It's a great way to stretch your supplies and get a whole new look. 

Check out Dawn's great MIM video!

I love to create stamped and colored backgrounds so that was my plan for this card.  I chose a  color palette of Summer Sunrise, Lemon Tart, and Melon Berry.  While I intended for the flowers to be more yellow, the Melon Berry ended up on center stage. For the leaves I used Ripe Avocado, and Spring Moss.  In the open spaces of the background, I spritzed the paper and dabbed on a little Aqua Mist and enjoyed watching it move around on the watercolor paper.  I'm also trying to incorporated more patterned paper and the Melon Berry Pattern Paper Pack offers some great choices; in this case, Bitty Dots.  I die cut a scallop border from a scrap of the watercolor paper using the Heart Border Die and added a Melon Berry satin ribbon.  For something a little different, I die cut Framed Out #6 using the gingham pattern from Summer Sunrise Pattern Pack.  I stamped the sentiment from the coordinating stamp set in Summer Sunrise ink and topped it with the frame on foam adhesive.  Final touch was to tie the framed sentiment onto the bow with Doodle Bug Baker's Twine, Tangerine. I rounded all four corners of the top layer before mounting it on foam adhesive to the Melon Berry card stock base.

I hope you have given this challenge a go.  It was good for me to try something a little different.  I have a long way to go in the watercoloring department, but Dawn is a great teacher and I think I will use this technique again.

TaTa for now!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Make It Monday #77: Ink Pads As Watercolors

Take a little time before the August Release starts and learn a watercolor technique from Dawn McVey.  It's a great way to stretch your supplies and get a whole new look. 

Whew!  I've been trying to post this since Tuesday.  Busy week, crafty week.  Just not enough time to blog about it!  I'll keep it short because I have two cards to upload for this challenge.  I really hope the link widget will someday allow us to upload two pictures from the same blog...or am I the only one who doesn't know how to do that?

My first card for the Watercolor with Ink Pads challenge was actually a technique I learned from a You Tube video a long time ago which reappeared on Wida's blog just this week. Here's the video.  It's well worth taking a look.  The technique is not hard.  Stamp the image with versamark ink onto white card stock and heat emboss with clear powder.  Then watercolor inside the lines created by the embossing powder, with lighter or darker shades of the colors you choose. In the video, Patty used white shimmer paper and so did I for this particular card, then fussy cut them and mounted them on the card base with foam adhesive.  While I don't think this card is particularly outstanding, I am pleased with the elegant simplicity of these beautiful flowers and leaves against a white background.  I used Pure Poppy, Hibiscus Burst, Melon Berry, and Harvest Gold for the flowers, and Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse, and Spring Moss for the leaves.  I applied these to an acrylic block and used water and small paint brush as Dawn instructed.  Many of my thoughts recently revolve around how much I cherish my friends, so this beautiful sentiment (stamped with Ripe Avocado ink) from In Bloom seemed like a good companion for the flowers from the same set.  The final detail was to add a Sakura Glaze Pen to the word "friend" to continue the shininess of the roses and leaves.

I'm so glad you decided to stop by and check out my card.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Hope your weekend is fun and refreshing!

Suzanne

MFW Tuesday Trigger: Type Hype Revisited

Have you ever seen a cuter typewriter?  I have an old typewriter of about the same vintage, but it is sadly lacking in the cuteness!  Those colorful, adorable keys against the black body of the typewrite inspired me to reach for my ZING embossing powders.  (Love these-don't use them enough).  My second inspiration came from Helen, this week's Moxie Fabber.  I am just getting to know this sweet and talented lady, who mentioned that HER friend Karin, has made an entire page of little pages that just fit the typewriter in the stamp set I chose to use for this project.  You can download them for free, just like I did!  Thanks so much Karin, for making my project come together so easily.

See what I mean?  Life really is better with friends!  I hope you will check out the Tuesday Trigger challenge for yourself and join the fun.

Supplies:

Cardstock:  Soft Stone, True Black, White (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp Sets:  Hero Arts CL483, Studio Calico/Hero Arts 331073

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark

Other:  Zing Embossing Powders:  Aqua, Mustard, Rouge  Stampendous: Detail White

Tiny messages by Karin

I hope you get a smile from this card-I sure did from making it!  If you have time to leave a comment, it would make my day complete!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Make It Monday #76

Hi there, Friends

It's been a long, hot, month and there is lots more summer and travel and interruptions to come.  But tonight, I am delighted to share a card with you.

Nichole Heady has another great technique to stimulate our creativity; Double-time Bleach Stamping which means that she not only uses bleach to stamp her design, but comes back and adds color over the bleached areas.  She offers three beautiful examples.  Check it out.

As for my card, I chose to use some long neglected Ocean Tides card stock.  I was delighted and amazed at the change of color when the bleach was applied.  This determined that my color combo would include Classic Kraft.  I'll detail the other supplies used at the end of the post.

I think this is the perfect technique for the dandelion image used here.  I repeated the bleach technique with two different sizes of solid circle stamps for the card base.  After thorough drying, I stamped over the larger circles with Ocean Tides ink and the smaller ones with Pinefeather.  This is definitely an unusual color combo for me, but I am quite pleased with the final result.  

I'm looking forward to hearing from you, I have certainly missed everyone during the past three weeks!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Supplies:  All Papertrey Ink

Cardstock:  Ocean Tides, Classic Kraft

Inks:  household bleach, Ocean Tides, Pinefeather

Stampsets:  Daydreamers, Beautiful Blooms II ( medium sized solid circle only)

Make It Monday #74 Stamping on Texture

 Heather Nichols has put together a fabulous tutorial for you today about stamping on texture.  By throwing this easy technique into your bag of tricks you can reinvent all of the images in your stamp collection!  


My project this week was doubly inspired.  First by Heather's tutorial and secondly by this picture from Nichole's post today introducing more of the stamps and dies to be released on July 15th.

I was already thinking that my favorite background texture is woodgrain, and the floral design on the picture above made me think of the Stitches and Swirls stamp set.  After running a small piece of card stock through my Big Shot using the impression plate, I applied Classic Kraft ink to the texture with a brayer as Heather had done in her tutorial.  This was adhered to the left side.  I stamped the invitation on the right along with a small image from Stitches and Swirls to move the eye from the image on the left to the information on the right. Finally, I added the ribbon and bow, rounded the corners and it was finished.  Pretty simple!

I like the combination of Sweet Blush, Kraft, and Dark Chocolate for the "Meet Julia" party I had in mind as I made this invitation.  I have some friends who are hoping to adopt a little girl so I want to be ready to host a shower when she arrives!


You will find the usual supplies list at the end of the post.  Please leave a comment; it really makes my day to hear from you!


Thanks for stopping by,
Suzanne


Supplies:  All Papertrey Ink unless noted
Card stock:  Sweet Blush
Ink:  Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft
Stamps:  Stitches and Swirls, By Invitation
Ribbon:  Sweet Blush satin 
Other:  Woodgrain Impression Plate,  Copic Markers YG91, R11

Make It Monday #73: Stamping on Patterned Paper

Hello All!  Happy Saturday night.  I hope the weekend is going well for you.  My husband is on call and won't be home for another 30 minutes so I am making this a quick show and tell for this week's  MIM.  Ashley Cannon Newell has done one of her excellent tutorials showing her creativity with stamping on patterned paper. Check it out!

Here's my card

I am in love with all of the Pattern Packs being released at Papertrey Ink.  I chose the gingham check from the Fine Linen collection for the background.  I  stamped it with Turning a New Leaf in Ripe Avocado ink and finished this simple card with my favorite Fillable Frame #10 using a sentiment from the new We Go Together set.  What do you think about the little pink flowers?  These were made with an old EK Success punch that I have had for so long I don't remember where or why I have it.  But, I find that I frequently use it on a variety of projects.  To my surprise, however, I discovered that a small 5-petal flower in Beautiful Blooms II is the perfect stamp for it!   I also added a little Flower Soft in sunshine yellow to the the centers.  They remind me of the little crabapple blossoms in the early spring. One of the things I love most about paper crafting is that I have license to make any flower my little brain can imagine so here are my crabapple blossoms on a Carolina Jessamine vine climbing on a lattice in July!  LOL!

The card base is Fine Linen card stock and the mat is in Ripe Avocado.

Stay cool, girlfriends, it's hot out there!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne 

MIM # 72 and Winner Announcement

Make It Monday #72: Step It Up - Embellishments

Hello again!  I am so delighted that there were many, many of you who left comments for the June Blog Hop post.   Now I get to announce the winner of the $25.00 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink!

This is my first giveaway-eek!  I'm so excited!!  Since I am not connected to any random generator,   I cut up paper and wrote a number for each of the comments, and pulled #30 RENEE

   CONGRATULATIONS!

Please send your e-mail address to suzannebrussell@gmail.com and I will get the gift certificate off to you today!  Thanks so much for participating in the celebration with me.

Now, on to a new card, three cards actually since the challenge is Step-It-Up Embellishments by Dawn McVey.  I fell in love with Lovely Layers the very first time I saw Nichole's "You Make Me Happy" card during the countdown posts earlier in the month.  Such a romantic style and I love the way she and Dawn both stacked the colorful layers so I could not resist using the same set for my project today.  I chose a little used color for my card stock, Spring Rain.  It is so hot around here (we are in the +100's already), I wanted to cool things down a bit.  This brought to mind the dainty little pair of Jasper ware vases given to me by my grandmother as a wedding gift.  I think they are probably Wedgewood knock offs, but I admired them in her house as I grew up, and she graciously parted with them in celebration of my wedding, so they are dear to me.  This thought led me to create a wedding card.

1.  As with Dawn's tutorial, I started with a simple approach.  Actually this is all four die cuts from Lovely Layers, stamped and popped up on foam adhesive, but this image is the most basic part of the design for me.  The leaves are stamped with Simply Chartreuse ink, the veins of the leaves are done in Dark Chocolate.  The four smaller leaves are stamped with Spring Rain and their veins, as well as the flower petals, are stamped with Blueberry Sky.  The tiny scalloped edge of the flower center is stamped with Enchanted Evening, and the center is Simply Chartreuse again.

2.  Instead of adding more to the top of the embellishment, I added more to the back.  I used a Doily Detail Die on Vintage Cream card stock, adhering it directly onto the Spring Rain card base.

3.  For the final step-up, I replaced the doily with two die cuts from the Limitless Layers, Squares die set which are also from the June Release.  This step was really fun.  I first cut the basic square from Vintage Cream, cut it again aligning the four leaf die from Lovely Layers die set with the four corners.  Secondly, I used the open scallop LL-Squares die on Blueberry Sky card stock, and repeated the cut with the four leaf die allowing the two mats to stack up and reveal the base color underneath.  Attaching the basic image over this just made me giggle!  I really like the way it turned out.  The sentiment, from Love and Marriage was stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed with white.

So that's all for this post.  I hope you have already checked out this week's challenge, but if not, click on the link above, and give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Pretty in Pink - CFC58

Hello and Happy Wednesday to you!

I have a quick post for today as I am sneaking in under the wire for the challenge at CAS-ual Friday this week:  A clean and simple project using pink.

I love playing around with Papertrey Ink's newly released Happy Hexagons stamp set and the Hexagons Cover Plate that makes it such a breeze to implement.  However, I was conflicted about the results and would appreciate some honest feedback.  As you will see, I have two cards, either of which I am pleased to submit for this challenge, but I am not thrilled with either.  I love the idea,  especially the glittered "Queen Bee".  Any suggestions?

I've included the complete supply list at the end.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you on this one!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Supplies:  All PTI unless noted

Card stock:  white

Inks:  Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Autumn Rose

Stamp Sets:  Happy Hexagons, Honey Bees

Dies:  Hexagon Cover Plate

Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter, ZIG glue pen

June Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink

check it out at http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/

Hello!  I've missed you!  Not only am I glad to be back to blogging, TODAY IS MY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!!!!  One year ago today, I posted for the first time with an entry to the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop.  I have learned so much over the past year from all of you.  So much inspiration, so much encouragement to keep trying new techniques, colors and styles.  Many of my smiles have truly started with reading the kind comments you have left for me, so today's card is just for you!  Thanks for sharing the celebration with me.

Are you wondering if I am offering a little anniversary gift?  Why yes, I am!  A $25.00 Gift Certificate from Papertrey Ink will be given to the lucky duck whose name I randomly select from the comments on today's post.  I will announce the winner on Thursday, June 28 by noon, CST.



Here's the Inspiration Photo:

 

Today's inspiration photo immediately took me to the newly released Natural Beauty stamp set.  What a fantastic stamp set!  The options seem limitless and the images are gorgeous.  (Thanks Nichole!)  Since I'm not a big fan of lace and ruffles and such, My focus was on building a beautiful floral background similar to the largest pillow, and the puffy yellow pillow in front.  Both the background mat and the sentiment frame are popped up on foam adhesive.  The yellow circles are coated with fine crystal glitter. I adore these colors!

Here's my card:

Thanks for all the smiles!  Leave a comment, 'cause I want YOU to get the gift certificate!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne

Supplies:  All PTI unless noted

Card stock:  Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist

Stamp sets:  Natural Beauty, Fancy Flourishes, Fillable Frames #10

Ink:  New Leaf

Dies:  FF #10

Other:  Martha Stewart  fine crystal glitter, trim (gift from a friend), 1/8" Scor-Tape, Dimensional Foam Adhesive

P.S.  Did you notice that I have a new header?  Karen Baker at http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/ did a great job-exactly what I asked for.  If you are looking for a new design, she has lots of examples under "Custom Blog Designs".  Check it out!

CASE study # 93, Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge and Spatter Challenge

Good Morning and Happy Monday!  


The sun has not yet risen on this new week, but I have tons to accomplish before I leave town on Wednesday so I am up and at 'em.  I'm glad I get to squeeze in one more entry for  Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge which ends today.  Apparently, I am not the only one who is a little "giddy for gingham"!  Check out the great cards submitted for the challenge and in Card Creations Volume 10 magazine.


AND CASE study # 93 has hosted guest designer, AGA during the month of May, and this is the last chance to case her beautiful style.  So here's my card:

I was particularly inspired by the misted panel, banner detail, and large floral focal image of Aga's card:

Here is a close-up of my focal image, shined up a bit using a Sakura Glaze Pen.  I used the same treatment on the sentiment banner.

I chose the landscape orientation because of the misting.  I love the randomness that comes with using misting products such as Mister Huey in Pretty Pink, but I can't quite get the larger, spattered effect yet.  I'll have to work on this technique some more.  I bought a variety of Mister Huey colors and look forward to the practice.  As you can see, the focal image as well as the misted panel are raised up on dimensional foam.  The card base is made from Papertrey Ink Simply Chartreuse Pattern Paper Collection.  I am a little nuts about the patterns as well as the available colors for these 8 1/2 X 11 pattern packages.  I'm adding them to a lot of projects where I have not used patterns before. The chartreuse gingham is showing up a lot!

I guess it's time to get on with the rest of my day.  I hope your week holds lots of crafting time.  Leave a comment for me so that I

 can visit you in return and see what you're up to as well!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

other supplies:

White card stock, bulk supply 

Inks:  PTI Simply Chartreuse, Raspberry Fizz

Stamp sets:  PTI Simple Sunflower, Scripted Sentiments

PTI button, twine  

The Gingham Challenge

Hello again!

There are deadlines everywhere, but this is one I don't want to miss.  Gingham is one of my favorite patterns (second only to polka dots).  Consequently, I fell in love with every one of the cards submitted to Moxie Fab World Gingham Challenge!  The deadline that I missed, over at PTI for the May 2012 Papertrey Blog Hop, was actually the inspiration for this card.  

I'm keeping this brief today, so here's the card:

Hope you like!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Suzanne

supplies:  All Papertrey Ink unless noted

Cardstocks:  Simply Chartreuse, Spring Moss, White

Patterned Paper:  Gingham from Smokey Shadow Pattern Pack

Inks:  Simply Chartreuse, Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps:  On the Farm

Other:  Ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Sizzix Embossing Folder, Beautiful Blooms #1 dies, Source unknown for the following: tiny flower punch, dew drops, dimensional foam adhesive

Make It Monday #68

Hi there!  Happy Wednesday to you.  I hope this holiday weekend was a time of rest and relaxation for you and your family as well as a celebration of the lives of the men and women who have died in the cause of peace and democracy around the world.  Yes, it is an American holiday, one of which I am extremely proud.  One that we still observe with respect and reverence as we remember the cost of our freedoms.  My father was in the battle of Okinawa toward the end of WWII.  He was on a battleship a mere 100 miles from the shore when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  He returned home with only a small piece of shrapnel in his face to remind him forever of the many days and nights in that ship on the rolling Pacific Ocean under many attacks of the Japanese Kami-Kazi pilots.  I spent many nights around the dinner table rolling my eyes as he would recall over and over again the stories of that time in his life.  Sorry, Daddy, that I wasn't more respectful at the time.  Thank you for doing your part in changing the world.

Ok,  now that I'm off my soapbox, would you like to see the pocket card I made for this week's MIM challenge by Heather Nichols?

I just can't seem to make a pocket card that doesn't contain a gift card.  I love the simple design of Heather's card and used the same dimensions and orientation as she, but added the gift card inside. I marked the corners of the card and made diagonal cuts with a craft knife across those corners to hold the gift card in place.  

I had lots of fun combining stamp sets to create the sentiment I was looking for.  I hope you get the pun!  

The striped Washi tape is custom made using the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set with Hibiscus Burst Ink.  I am fascinated with the phenomenon of Washi tape, but just can't bring myself to start another "micro-addiction", so I have decided to ride out the trend making my own-small batch style.  I was first introduced to this idea by Nichole Heady in this MIM last October.  I will be sharing this technique with my stamp club at our June meeting.

I have added a complete list of supplies at the bottom of the post.  I've missed being around most of the month and look forward to catching up with you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Supplies:  All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted

Cardstock:  bulk purchase from Sam's Club

Stamp sets:  Heart-2-Heart #4, Happy Day, Birthday Basics, Little Bitty Bird, Fillable Frames #5,            Candy Cane Christmas

Dies:  Heart-2-Heart #4

Inks:  Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Memento Tuxedo Black

Other:  Hibiscus Brust Ribbon, "Worn Lipstick" Distress Marker, corner rounder punch